Wheel for feeding sheet members and feed roller using the same

ABSTRACT

A wheel for a feed roller for feeding sheet members includes an annular wheel body and a plurality of protrusions protruded from a circumferential periphery of the annular wheel body. The present invention is also to provide a feed roller for feeding sheet members, which use the wheels. The feed roller includes a shaft and the wheels, which are coaxially sleeved onto the shaft and closely abutted with one another.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a feed roller for use in a printing machine for feeding sheet members to be printed and more particular, to a feed roller having a plurality of wheels abutted with one another for feeding sheet members.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 shows a conventional feed roller for use in a printing machine to transfer sheet members, for example, papers or slide films for printing. As illustrated, the feed roller 1 has fine protrusions 2, which are raised from the periphery of the roller for increasing friction force between the feed roller 1 and the workpiece. Because the procedure of making the fine protrusions 2 on the periphery of the feed roller 1 is complicated, the manufacturing cost of this design of feed roller 1 is high.

FIG. 2 shows another structure of feed roller according to the prior art. According to this design, the feed roller 3 has a plurality of protrusions 4 raised from the periphery. The protrusions 4 are formed of a part of the peripheral wall of the feed roller 3 by means of jabbing the peripheral wall of the feed roller 3 with piercing means. The tool for piercing the peripheral wall of the feed roller 3 to make the desired protrusions 4 is a specifically designed. The manufacturing cost of this design of feed roller is also high.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a feed roller that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide wheels that can easily be assembled to from a feed roller for feeding sheet members so as to lower the manufacturing cost of the feed roller.

It is another objective of the present to provided wheels that can easily be assembled to form various models of feed roller for feeding sheet members.

To achieve these objectives of the present invention, the wheel comprises a flat circular annular wheel body, and a plurality of protrusions protruded from a circumferential periphery of the annular wheel body. A number of the wheels can be assembled with a shaft to form a feed roller. Further, the wheels can be injection-molded from plastics, or made of metal by stamping.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view a feed roller according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another feed roller according to the prior art.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wheel for a feed roller according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates different shapes of protrusions according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a feed roller according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an alternate form of the feed roller according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 3, a wheel 10 for a feed roller is shown having a flat circular annular wheel body 11 and a plurality of protrusions 12 equiangularly spaced around the circumferential periphery of the annular wheel body 11.

The annular wheel body 11 defines a center axle hole 13, and has a plurality of mounting through holes 14 spaced around the center axle hole 13.

Referring to FIGS. 4 a-4 e and FIG. 3 again, the protrusions 12 can be made having any of a variety of shapes, for example, the cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 4 a, the conical shapes as shown in FIGS. 4 b-4 d, or a particular shape as shown in FIG. 4 e to fit different usage requirements.

The wheel 10 can be injection-molded from plastics. Alternatively, the wheel 10 can be made of metal by stamping. These two fabrication methods are easy to perform without special processing implements.

Referring to FIG. 5, a number of wheels 10 are mounted on a shaft 21 and tightly abutted against one another, and then fastening rods (not shown) are fastened to the mounting through holes 14 to secure the wheels 10, thereby forming a feed roller 20. The diameter of the center axle hole 13 is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the shaft 21 so that the wheels 10 can be firmly secured to the shaft 21 by a friction resistance when installed. Further, after installation of the fastening rods in the mounting through holes 14 of the wheels 10, the protrusions 12 of the wheels 10 are set in position subject to a predetermined arrangement.

The wheels 10 can be set on the shaft 21, keeping the protrusions 12 of the wheels 10 arranged in a staggered manner.

As stated above, the wheels 10 have a simple structure, and are easy to install.

FIG. 6 shows an alternate form of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the feed roller 30 comprises a shaft 31, a bushing 32 sleeved onto the shaft 31 and fixedly secured to a middle part of the shaft 31, and two sets of wheels 10 mounted on the shaft 21 and respectively abutted against one another at two sides of the bushing 32.

As indicated above, a feed roller made according to the present invention has the advantages of simple structure and low manufacturing cost.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims. 

1. A wheel for a feed roller for feeding sheet members, said wheel comprising: a circular wheel body; and a plurality of protrusions protruded from a circumferential periphery of said circular wheel body.
 2. The wheel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protrusions are equiangularly spaced around the circumferential periphery of said circular wheel body.
 3. The wheel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said circular wheel body has a center axle hole.
 4. The wheel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said circular wheel body has a mounting through hole.
 5. The wheel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protrusions have a cylindrical shape.
 6. The wheel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protrusions have a conical shape.
 7. A feed roller for feeding sheet members, comprising: a plurality of circular wheels coaxially arranged relative one another; wherein said wheels each have a circular wheel body and a plurality of protrusions protruded from a circumferential periphery of said circular wheel body.
 8. The feed roller as claimed in claim 7, wherein said circular wheel body has a center axle hole.
 9. The feed roller as claimed in claim 7, wherein said circular wheel body has a mounting through hole.
 10. The feed roller as claimed in claim 7, wherein said protrusions of said wheel have a cylindrical shape.
 11. The feed roller as claimed in claim 7, wherein said protrusions of said wheel have a conical shape.
 12. The feed roller as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a shaft inserted into the center axle holes of said wheel bodies of said wheels.
 13. The feed roller as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a bushing sleeved onto said shaft.
 14. A feed roller for feeding sheet members, comprising: a shaft; and a plurality of wheels each having an annular wheel body coaxially sleeved onto said shaft, and a plurality of protrusions protruded from a circumferential periphery of said annular wheel body.
 15. The feed roller as claimed in claim 14, wherein the wheels are abutted with one another.
 16. The feed roller as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a bushing sleeved onto the shaft to separate said wheels into two sets at two sides of said bushing.
 17. The feed roller as claimed in claim 14, wherein said wheel body of said wheels each have a mounting through hole through which a fastening rod is firmly inserted. 